i know now that nvidia are the recommended vid cards for use with linuxmce and linux in general, but now since the last 2 months AMD has released better linux drivers as well as "opened up" an open source version of their drivers. it's still a little early but it looks like the oss driver is already doing pretty well. does this mean we'll see more support and better performance with AMD/ATI and linuxmce?

i'm asking because right now the hd38XX series, while not smashing any performance records (i think it does hold its own, however) runs cooler and they all have full hdmi support. they just seem like a natural fit for htpc's. it would be REALLY nice to get full h.264 acceleration through the cards as well.

i also happen to be in the market for a new card for an htpc that would dual boot windows for when i want some big screen gaming (mostly racing games/simulators).

so all things considered (i know the future can be a little murky) should i go with an nVidia 8800GT or an AMD HD3870?

Not sure if the Nvidia cards do this, ATI cards can pass audio over HDMI which would make Home Theater integration installation easier, especially if the components are located remotely in the house. With more time I hope the ATI drivers will get better, still holding onto my 6600GT for testing, which works very well.